congratulations. the baby was born yesterday a little before noon. >> dana: this time she perfectly produced the whole birth. >> brian: jackson, you can't rattle your mom. she gets up in the middle of the way anyway. >> steve: dana, good job. >> dana: thanks for having me. morning, everybody, there is breaking news with a package with explosive components setting outside a federal building in detroit, sitting there for three weeks. fox news confirming the fbi is now involved, that package found in the federal building shown here, downtown detroit, 26 story building, holdings the offices of the irs, the fbi, and michigan's democratic senator carl levin. working on a live report on the scene, more on that a bit later in "america's newsroom". in the meantime now, the west will end in the dust pin of history, those words from mommar qaddafi, not backing down, making his first public appearance in more than a week, this as

allied forces launch new strikes from the west to benghazi in the west and there is this. it has been described to us as a rocket attack, launched by qaddafi's army, captured by cell phone video, and that video foes on for quite a while. it's clear now his forces still on the offensive in so many parts of that country, and that's where we pick up the story this morning, good morning here, i'm bill hemmer live in "america's newsroom" and here we go again. martha: good morning, everybody, i am martha maccallum, great to have you with us. qaddafi's colorful remarks making headlines this morning, he is refusing to back down, with supporters now forming a human shield to protect him at his main compound in the capitol of tripoli. libya's leader, sending this very clear message: >> i'm not afraid to -- of cyclones, i'm not afraid of

rains that hover over our heads. i'm standing over here, to fight. to fight them. i am here. i'm here. i'm here. martha: there he is. and there you have it. rick leventhal joining us now with live coverage of all of this, streaming today from benghazi. good morning, rick. >> reporter: good morning, martha. and both sides are talking tough. a rebel spokesman -- or spokesperson for the new transitional government told me, quote, we have the resolve, the motto is we win or die and he says they will not surrender to qaddafi. clearly the battles are continuing, in the west, misurata, the civilian population continuing to get pounded, we're told there are coalition strikes to take out tanks and military might in the western town and south of us, in a strategic location 90 miles below benghazi, that's where qaddafi forces have created the eastern front line and that's where rebel soldiers

continue to engage those forces and are being beaten back. we heard of several killed and wounded yesterday and again the day before that, locals telling us they can't go home, when they try to get back in they can't looive because they are in control there. you mentioned that cell phone video, we got that from a local resident who told us it came from the phone of a qaddafi soldier who dropped it and they found it and showed us video of that rocket attack. pretty dramatic stuff. we should also mention that the traditional government now has a new temporary leader, his name is mahmoud jabril, and we talked to a spokeman who told us that the libyans are united now with an honorable goal: listen: >> they have seen what extremists can do to countries in afghanistan and in other places, and in libya, we don't really have so many different sects or identities, we're all libyans, we have one type of liz ram, which is a very

moderate type of islam, and they would like to be democratic. >> reporter: again, they say they have the resolve, they will win or die, martha, and the battle continues here. martha: thank you very much for that, rick leventhal reporting from benghazi. so president obama cutting his trip to latin america a bit short by a few hours because of the situation in libya, the white house canceled the trip to the mayan ruins today, the president in the region for a 3-country, 5-day tour, meant to establish u.s. ties and to reconfirm and build some of those ties, so he takes a lot of criticism for this trip as you well know having watched the coverage over the last several days as the attack on libya was ramping up. bill: in the meantime president obama suggesting libyan people are ready to move on without qaddafi from an interview late last night. >> we believe it's not a matter of military might, but instead an idea that comes to the libyan people that it's time for a change that ends up ultimately

sweeping qaddafi out of power. bill: that may be the case in the end. so far though that's not happened. new videotape you can watch from tripoli, the libyan capitol, this as car daie appearing -- this is qaddafi appearing last night in front of a crowd, it looks like several thousand people in a field, at the same palace that was bombed two days ago by these tomahawk cruise missiles launched by the british into that palace. want to bring in this map now and show you the theater of operations throughout the entire mediterranean and europe. there are so many different locations from where the attacks could be launched. we just picked out a few. go to england, norfolk, eastern england, you can launch strikes in in -- from there, flying over spain and hitting targets in tripoli and east of tripoli. italy has six different bases used by the u.s. and nato forces, this is one of them, corsic anchts northern italy, you can launch attacks here down to

benghazi, whichceive seen, the fighter jets launched and trying to take out rebel the -- in the strong hold of ben georgiaie. in the mediterranean, we've located just two of the naval vessels where you can run operations and also the submarines beneath the water that have launched or helped to launch the tomahawk missiles. captain chuck nash, retired, with me now, fox news military analyst and captain, good morning to you. >> morning bill. bill: we are reading consistent know now reports about whether or not this coalition can stay together. can it and how? >> it's going to be very difficult. and there's a lot of arm twisting going on, probably, because the three main elements that you need to any successful military campaign, number one, clearly defined mission, number two, an unambiguous chain of command, and three, some stated end goals so that you know what it is you're working toward, and if you -- right now if you look at what they're coming up with as a negotiated

position for the u.s. to push this over to other leadership, it's not going to be nato, although nato forces in the military command structure evidently are going to be used, they're going to stand up a political group made up of the coalition members who will then be giving orders to nato evidently who will then be carrying them out under the nato regime. bill: that sounds massively complicated. you would think that the -- the secretary of defense gates said we're doing so much of this on the fly. is that a way to conduct in the operations, especially when you consider this is not a singular operation? this involves a dozen countries, plus. >> yeah, there are a lot of moving parts in this and there are people who have never been part of the same coalition, yet evidently, that coalition is who is going to be giving the political guidance to the military side, which will be the nato organization, and you've got germany saying we

don't want to be part of that, we're pulling our forces back, you've got the uae, who said we're going to send two squadrons of aircraft, whoops, not so fast, only humanitarian aid. so yeah, you normally do -- and people have to understand that no plan survives contact with the enemy. you're contactually adjusting. but normally, when you go in, you go in with somewhat of a clearly defined mission, but you go in with a good organization in your chain of command, and that is what a lot of the things that are critical to success by lack -- are lacking at this point and hopefully they will come on board shortly. bill: you say shortly. do you have any concern this could fall apart? >> i don't like what i'm seeing, bill. because normally, you have these things up front. they're the going in position. and we're already engaged in combat. and we're still trying to put it together. so people are playing some serious catchup here. bill: twisting arms along the way. chuck nash, thank you, we'll

lean on you again tomorrow, okay? we'll see where we are then. chuck nash out of washington. martha: you were talking about the uncertainty that surrounds this effort in libya and that has not gone downnoticed by the oil markets because prices are up once again and that means higher costs at the gas pump as well. take a price at of crude oil, $104. just to put that in perspective, that is up $19 since the middle of february. that is a huge climb for oil, and it comes as the president pledges $3 billion to help brazil with its off shore oil reserves, and that is raising a lot of eyebrows here at home in the united states. let's sort this out with none other than stuart varney, of course, from the fox business network. stuart, good morning. very significant moves in oil prices here. >> look, you've got confusion over the goal, the leadership, and the duration of the military events in libya. there's confusion about that. so people are looking at the

situation, saying wait a minute, we're not going to get any oil out of libya for a long time to come. that takes oil -- continues taking oil off the market so the price of oil has gone up again. you just showed the price of oil at $104 a barrel, the news martha is this morning, it's gone to $105 a barrel and the price of gasoline, since february 16th, when the libyan events began, has gone from 3.13 a gallon to 3.55, 3.56. that's where we are today. so you've got the price of oil going up a little bit more because of the confusion surrounding the events in libya and martha you're absolutely right, the world is absolutely astounded to hear that president obama is committing $3 billion of american money in a credit to the brazilians so that they can go and exploit their off shore oil at precisely the moment when we're not allowed, it is illegal to exploit our off shore oil reserves, so you've got this real contradiction in the world market price, the price is

up, and the price of gas is likely to go up some more. martha: it's a head scratcher. >> yes. martha: and a lot of folks are taking a close look at t stuart varney, enough. we have breaking news we want to get to with bill. bill: indeed we do, and abc news is now reporting that the famed actress, the american icon elizabeth taylor has died at the age of 79. late reports we have is that she was being treated for a heart condition. it's unclear at what time or where she was when elizabeth taylor passed away, but i want to pass this along to you on a sad day on the 23rd of march. elizabeth taylor, what a life she has lived, just personally and professionally, and the mark she has left on american culture. you think about elizabeth taylor now, age 79, and we remember her fondly with the news just crossing moments ago. martha: throughout the course of our lives, she's been one of the most

legendary if not the most and her marriage to richard burton, clepatra, and the amazing life she had. democrats are staging the longest walkout in that state's history. this trend is continuing. they're going to pay for it, essentially. coming up, the latest in indiana's budget battle, getting very heated. bill: indeed it is. and nancy pelosi touting it as a, quote, jobs bill, now a new report on the health care overhaul, one year old today, by the way, says it's anything but a job maker. take a look at this, too, watch it inside the courtroom. not the way the law is supposed to be handled. martha: don't see that every day! bill: weil tell you why that man had to be tackled and dragged out of the courtroom. also back on that breaking news and the death of elizabeth taylor, as we

continue in minutes.

martha: all right. sadly fox news can now confirm that elizabeth taylor has died at the age of 79, after giving an extraordinary contribution to acting throughout the course of her life. we want to take a look at that right now. let's take a look at the life of elizabeth taylor. >> elizabeth taylor was only 12 years old when she achieved international fame in the 1944 classic "national velvet". >> i might as well die. >> by the 1950s the london-born american was box office magic ranking as one of the top ten movie stars of the decade. >> she has always been a star, so it's hard to know what made her a star. i would say originally, it was her astonishing beauty and sensitivity. >> while the 2-time academy award winner was a success

in hollywood, taylor's private life was a disaster. ill health plagued her throughout her life while personal happiness seemed to be a marriage away. >> she was a godess, ravaged by hell. >> elizabeth taylor's first marriage to nicky hilton ended in divorce by only a few months, by 1952, taylor married michael weelding and in 1957 she married producer mike todd. >> i don't think there's any doubt that if mike todd had lived, he would still have been her husband. >> but todd died in a plane crash. >> i said i'd try anything once. >> ever try comedy? >> only in desperation. >> then a swid --o widow comfort found scandal and comfort in the arms of eddy fisher, married to her best friend, debbie reynolds. the movie "cleopatra" proved golden for taylor, the first

star to be paid $1 million for a film and she met the man she would marry twice, richard burton. >> drop dead. >> they were very much in love with each other, in fact i think they really remained in love with each other always. when he died, i wrote her a sensitive note because to me, she would alb his wife. >> in 1976, elizabeth taylor married her sixth husband, virginia senator john warner, but by 1983, that marriage had ended and taylor checked herself into the betty ford clinic for alcohol dependency. >> sorry, honey. >> after the death of the actor and close friend rock hudson in 1985, taylor focused her attention on aids research. >> each day in this world, 5000 people about him infected with hiv. >> during the '80s taylor became friends with pop icon michael jackson after she attended one of his concerts. at a 1989 awards show she

introduced him as the king of pop, the title that stuck with him for the rest of his life. >> taylor was a staunch supporter of jack on when he faced child molestation charges saying michael's love of children is one of the purest things i've ever seen, their friendship continued until jackson's death in 2009. upon hearing the news taylor released a statement saying my heart, my mind, are broken. i loved michael with all my soul and i can't imagine life without him. >> taylor's 1991 wedding to construction worker larry fortenski was held at michael jackson's home under intense media scrutiny, taylor met fortensky during the second stay at the betty ford clinic. as her film demands less ended, taylor turned her attention to promoting her life of perfumes, she continued her work for aids research and in 1997 attended this 65th birthday bash in hollywood to help raise money for her favorite cause. >> remember you said to me i

can fend for you. >> it was down to -- she was down to earth, a wonderful mother. she has a lot of very refined qualities that always struck me. she was good and generous. >> in the past two years, she battled a brain tumor, skin cancer and heart problems. >> from her causes to her career, from her loves to her losses, over the years, elizabeth taylor lived and died a legend. rick folbaum, fox news. martha: thanks to rick folbaum for that, what an extraordinary look at a woman who lived life to its fullest in every way, from other marriages to the extraordinary acting career. i think of her in "cat on a hot tin roof", just smoking, amazing, amazing actress, extraordinary and legendary. bill: many do not know, she has nine grandchildren. we remember liz taylor, now dead at the age of 79. got some breaking news

now, quickly, out of jerusalem, there has been an explosion on board a bus in jerusalem now. there are people in the street being taken away on stretchers, casualty count, not known. this will be the first bus bombing in years to hit that country. back in a moment live there, after this.

bill: a busy morning already, everybody, and back to this news in jerusalem. we were told that a bomb exploded on board a bus, seemed to be a bit of conflicting information as to whether or not there was a bomb on board a bus and nearby a telephone pole but bear this in mind, when all the news was libya was crossing about five days ago, hamas fired several rockets into southern israel, the israelis in turn responded, perhaps this is retaliation for that. as we sort through all the

information we're getting right now, rita ninan is by telephone in jerusalem. what have you found out about this? >> reporter: this explosion took place near the central bus hub where all the buses come in and out of central jerusalem, the bus explosion was heard at our offices, it went off at the front of the bus as people were getting after. at this point they don't believe there was a suicide bomber but an explosion that took place toward the beginning of that bus. police are now searching for a suspect that was seen leaving the area. it happened a little bit after 3:00 p.m., which is the prime time of people getting on the buses as they're leaving work and school and that sort of thing and as you mentioned, bill, the rockets have been picking up from the gaza strip into israel. there's a ping called ping pong between the georgian militants' fire, rockets, launched strikes, and they have significantly upped the ante here.

you can expect an aggressive response from the israeli government bill. bill: to be clear, this does not appear to be a suicide bombing but rather a planted device that went off, and if the reports are true, the bomber got away. >> >> reporter: that's exactly right. police are looking for a suspect right now. it was a crowded time, the bus was actually going into a religious area, part of jerusalem, bus number 74. so right now they're looking for that suspect. bill: all right. this has been the first bombing that we've been able to report on or have seen or witnessed in israel proper in several years. there was a time going back to 2002 and 2003 when there were periods in march and april, there were several bombings a day. now we'll sort through this and figure out whether or not there are fatalities -- fatalities and what the casualty count is and who is responsible. reena ninan, thank you, from jess. this is breaking news on "america's newsroom". martha: so many areas, hot

beds, across that entire region. what next in libya? qaddafi continues his brutal crackdown. what will the president call for next in this mission? and are he and secretary of state hillary clinton on the same page? you will hear from her. bill: also he vowing, qaddafi, that the west is sitting in the dust bin of history, his forces carrying out new attacks. we have the latest from the ground on that war in libya, in a matter of minutes. >> this is the hour of glory that we are living today. we are the leaders of the revolution, the world will have a reeflution against terrorism and against tyranny.

bill: there is an awful lot of breaking news this morning. now want to go to japan right now. there are reports that tokeo's tap water is now contaminated with radiation from the damaged plant at fukushima. these are four of the six reactors and there's a question today about reactor number three. this was a reactor that at times had emitted that white smoke that could be the steam that carries those radioactive particles up into the air. this, however, is not white steam. it turns out that it's black smoke, which could indicate another fire of sorts as the water level continues to be an issue, keeping these nuclear rods cool. david piper is on that live from osaka. hello david. >> reporter: yes, bill, that smoke is still pouring

from that reactor, the authorities had to evacuate the fire crews that had been cooling down those reactors which are in danger of overheating. they do say, though, there hasn't been any spike in radiation at the plant since the smoke started rising. there's also a scare in tokyo, radioactive iodine in the water in the japanese water is twice at safety levels for infants. parents of toddlers are being told to stop using top water in baby powder milk, adults have been told tap water is still safe to drink, though. the u.s. secretary of defense robert gates says he's concerned about radioactive fallout affecting the u.s.' 55,000 troops in and around japan, many of whom are involved in that massive relief help to -- to help survivors of the quake and tsunami. bill: thank you david. a lot to report and follow on in japan. thank you, david piper in okasa. martha: you heard captain chuck nash in "america's

newsroom", he says he is concerned about how things are going on the ground in libya, you've got mommar qaddafi vowing to fight on, where there are mixed messages about whether ousting him is part of the plan. here is u.s. secretary of state hillary clinton. >> we've heard about other people close tom, reaching out to people -- to him, reaching out to people throughout the world, africa, the middle east, europe, north america, beyond, you know, saying what do we do, how do we get out of this, what happens next, including himo. >> including him? do you know where he is? >> well, i'm not aware that he personally has reached out, but i do know that people allegedly on his behalf have been reaching out. martha: very interesting comments from hillary clinton. we're joined by lanny davis, former special counsel during the clinton administration, he's been friends with the secretary of state all the way back to their days at yale law school, so he knows her very well and is a great guest for us. good morning, lanny, nice to see you. >> good morning, nice to see

you. martha: this is a very complicated situation and hillary really has a lot on the line here, because although she is denying these reports that she was a very strong proponent of this, the word is from the meetings is that's what it sounded like. a lot on the line for her, would you say? >> first of all, the president and administration as a whole has supported what was supposed to be a no fly zone, limited in scope, limited in time, nato and our commit -- commitment with the arab league endorsing the as and she managed to pull that off as secretary of state but it's still the president's policy. martha: you know, you just touched on really what is becoming the most problematic part of this is pulling all those strings together. you've got turkey questioning what's going on and how cooperative they're going to be, the arab league, apparently they thought the whole thing was a great idea until it started happening and now they're not so sure, so it's clear that we are in a position of holding this tent together and being that

central pull which could get extremely tricky, lenny. >> -- lanny. >> first of all, she never ceases to amaze me that she remains unflappable as secretary of state, of following the president's polices, but it's a very difficult challenge to keep this limited when the world expects us to do everything whenever anything happens bad, and i think americans are worried that we can't be the policemen of the world, we can't pay our own bills here, we're using a credit card for every cruise missile that my children and grandchildren are going to be paying for. so at some point, this has to be limited. and i think that's what the secretary of state is trying to indicate. martha: let's listen to another piece of that interview, because it goes to your point of her unflappability. >> will this intervention be a success if he's still in power? >> i think we have to separate the two sides of the equation, if lu. the united nations security council resolution was very broad, but explicit, about

what was legally authorized by the international community. >> are you saying you're confident the end result will be that he's out? >> no, i'm not -- i don't want to make any predictions, because we're taking this one step at a time. martha: all right, and she went on to say that she was calm, as she watched all of this unfold, she's still very confident that it will end well. i guess ending well is the big question mark in terms of what the interpretation of that ends up to be lanny. >> well, i'm smiling because i can remember when i was panicking over an exam at yale law school and she would be take it cool, we'll get it done, so she's never changed in all these years. look, she's got a very important position here as secretary of state to manage expectations of the american people of the world community that were not about regime change. if we change this particular regime, qaddafi is a thug and murderer but there are

other cracks in the world that we don't go around trying to get rid of. so she's got to manage expectations and it's a tough assignment but as usual, secretary of state clinton is doing a great job. martha: she says she is going to finish in public life after this, but this may be the biggest challenge she faces, holding this group together. thank you very much for your thoughts, lanny davis. >> thank you. bill: -- >> today, after almost a century of trying, today, after over a year of debate, today, after all the votes have been tallied, health insurance reform becomes law in america. bill: that was president obama one year ago today, and back then democrats, including nancy pelosi, were claiming the new law would create hundreds of thousands of jobs. some said millions of jobs. but now there is a report from the left leaning group the urban institute saying the overhaul will have no

noticeable effect on jobs. others suggest we'll lose jobs because of it. what does the ohio senator rob portman, republican on the senate budget committee, think about this? senator, good morning to you, and welcome back to "america's newsroom". what do you think we've learned about this bill in 12 month? >> bill, unfortunately, i think that report understates the impact of this legislation, which is it's hurting jobs, not helping jobs. and it's already happening. it's happening for a few reasons. one is it increased the cost of health care, so small businesses all over this country are saying we can't afford to bring on somebody because of the cost of health care that is going up, not down, because of this legislation. it's happening in businesses all over ohio and they told me look, we're going to pay overtime, part-time, we're not going to bring on full-time employees, even though we have more orders in business because of the cost of health care. bill: sorry, it's the cost or the lack of direction about the future of the bill? >> i think there are three things. there are three things, they all relate to cost.

first is the fundamental cost increase. even the administration has said there's going to be an increase in cost, three times inflation this year and going forward with this legislation. second, i think it's the individual mandate. as you know there's a mandate on individuals but also employers. the national federation of independent businesses says that will result in over 1.5 million jobs being lost. but that's related to cost, mandating cost. third is the confusion about the regulations. there are over 2000 pages of regulations being worked through right now, and as you talk to employers, part of this is uncertainty about what the costs are going to be. they know they're going up but they're not precisely sure what they'll be and what the mandates will be on them. so companies that have a good health care plan that they like, their workers like, may or may not be able to keep that plan so the cost, the mandate and confusion is resulting in job loss right now, we can't afford it, 9 percent unemployment and it's not something we can afford in ohio or around the country. bill: i know especially in ohio, with the drain that's happened in the buckeye

state. has this entire bill in your opinion backfired? >> well, i think it's backfired in a couple of ways. one is in terms of the economy and growth, which should have been our number union priority in the last couple of years it's going to make it harder not easier to get out from the downturn, the recovery has been slow and i think a big part of it is because of the health care. i was at a small business meeting recently, the number one issue on everybody's mind of about a dozen small businesses was health care. that's the way it's backfired. it's not helping us to achieve what we're trying to do, which is to get this economy moving again. second we find ourselves in a difficult fiscal situation. you've talked about it. we've got a record decifit, record debts building up, many are concerned about a debt crisis coming up. this health care legislation is affecting that. as you think about it, the biggest cost drivers in our budget right now and the biggest part of the budget is health care, exempting

medicare and medicaid and health care costs are driving a lot of that. so the two fundamental issues we have to deal with now, getting the economy moving, bringing jobs back and dealing with our fiscal crisis, are making it more difficult, thanks to the health care legislation that was passed. bill: it is health care and jobs, issues one and two, stacked up right against each other. senator, thank you for coming back today, 12 months after it i was signed into law. rob portman out of ohio, thank you. >> thank you bill. martha: let's take a quick look at the markets on wall street now, investors reacting to what is expected to be the most costly natural disaster in history, the estimate topping $300 billion in japan, that mixed with everything going on around the world is causing a bit of a damper on the market, not too bad, though, out of the open, down 27 points. bill: we were up triple digits, where did that come from, huh? illegal immigrants, busted, posing as u.s. marines. where they were found, and what police say they were planning to do.

martha: a bizarre story. how about this? they said they would come back to vote on a budget bill, then they did not. democrats in indiana now staging the longest walkout in state's history, and now republicans say they're going to have to pay for it. literally. we'll be right back.

martha: all right. we take to you the video from jerusalem now, and this is the scene. first time we've seen this kind of attack since 2004 in jerusalem. twenty-five people wounded. it's the latest count. fifteen of them seriously wounded. no deaths to report in this incident. and this is -- we're just getting this in, so this is our first look at just how bad this explosion was. and they think that the person who set this off got away, that it may not have been a suicide bomber. we'll keep you up to date as soon as we get more information on that. bill: that can be one of the most gruesome sites you will ever see. in the meantime, hitting them where it hurts, house

republican plan in indiana that just made it a lot more expensive for democratic counterparts to avoid showing up for work, republicans, raising the daily fine for each absent democrat from 200 bucks a day to 350, as democrats continue to hold out on the walkout. they are hunkered down in illinois. democratic state representative wynn moses, sir, good morning to you. does the fine change your mind? >> no, not at all. we gave up our salaries a month ago because we feel so strongly about this that we think it's important that we hold out until we get some relief. bill: some of your democratic colleagues are saying that they're going to try and find an exit strategy. would you agree to that? would you go on back to indianpolis and hammer it out face to face? >> we believe that we have to stay here. and there's not an exit strategy that says we're going to collapse. there is an exit strategy that saying can we make sure the right to work is not in

indiana. indiana has haze the the average under mitch daniels. we think it goes to the middle 80s. we can't let that happen. bill: so you say democrats are united and talking about an exit strategy is only talking about negotiations. >> that's exactly right. bill: not a crack in unity? >> not at all. bill: you've been in illinois for what, two months now? >> no, one month. one month. and we are optimistic, and we're trying to find a way to get a compromise to bring us back. we'd like to come back but only if the workers of indiana are safe. bill: i got you. are you proud of what you're doing? >> we think we have to do it. it's worse than wisconsin, this is not just public employment collective bargaining, this is private sector. this will reduce the sal recent and wages of everybody in indiana. we think we have to do it. bill: how long can you stay there? >> well, we can stay as long as we need to. constitutionally, we're supposed to be done by april 29th, i hope we're done far before that. bill: good luck to you.

wynn moses is in illinois. sir, thank you for your time. brian bosmy is republican, speaker of the indiana house. sir, where are you today? >> just a block away from the capitol, and we're heading over there to go about the business of the state while our democratic colleagues continue to hold this state hostage over half a dozen special interest bills that they're concerned about. bill: he says the situation in indiana is more dire than wisconsin. is he right? >> the hyperbole on this is just off the charts. they keep calling it a radical agenda. it's not radical to increase slightly the type of public projects that don't have to pay union wages. that's all we're talking about. it's not radical to give inner city families of low income the opportunity to select a school of choice or to evaluate public school teachers on a regular basis. these are the things that they've walked out over, and they've collected the taxpayers' ball, taken it to

illinois and are saying they're not returning it. it's not going to happen. bill: mo says said he'd hold out as long as it takes, despite the elevation in the fine. this is what i understand. there are five states in america that actually have a surplus, 45 are in the red but indiana is in the black. so why is this necessary? >> this isn't about financial savings. what we're talking about is improving our local schools, helping teachers and families have a great teacher in every classroom, allowing inner city youth to pick a school of choice, expanding charter schools. these are not radical issues. but they are issues that are opposed by -- by the teachers' union, and also, some of the issues on labor are opposed by the labor unions who are essentially funding their trip over in illinois right now. that's where the funds are coming from. bill: there are distinctions in all these battles in different states. one more question on this in indiana. >> sure. bill: the republicans in the

statehouse carry out a vote like they did in wisconsin, will youo where you take the fiscal issues out and vote on it straight up and down and move forward. >> we don't have that option here in indiana. they have a special constitutional provision in wisconsin. we have to have two-thirds of the members elected to office show up for work. we have folks who took an oath of office to say they'd be here, and they're not. so they need to get back here and get the job done. we're waiting for them. bill: you have to wait until they come back. thank you sir for your time, brian bosma, he's manageority speaker in the state legislature there on the republican side, sir, thank you, out of indianpolis today. >> thank you. martha: there's a lot of tension out there and this one started as a regular school meetings. it got very heated and very intense quickly, supporters of public and charter schools, squaring off, the showdown over the future of education in one statement you're not going to believe what happens in this scene. bill: here's one way to take

out your mayor. look at this. knock him out! what sparked this and police say he came out swinging! >> how many times did the cops bring you home and stopped you for drunk driving?

martha: today, we are remembering elizabeth taylor, news just moments ago that she has passed away at the age of 79 and what an extraordinary life this woman lived in every way. three oscars, i think there were eight or nine marriages -- eight marriages, twice to richard burton, one of the great, great love stories of all time in that story. adam housley is joining us live with more on the life of this extraordinary woman. >> reporter: that's right, martha. you mentioned that she's

really a hollywood legend here, someone we watched for years. in fact she was in the tabloids before it became the thing to do in hollywood, in fact she was followed so closely some would say her private life sometimes overshadowed her public life and the public life could have been more respected, the fact that she was in 50 movies, three oscars, two of them for performanceness, one in btlefield eight, the other, who's afraid of virgin -- of virginia wolf, she played cleopatra, known for her beauty and her eight marriages. we have heard from her publicist, in part a quote from her son, michael wielding, he said my mother was an extraordinary woman who lived life to the fullest with great passion, humor and love. that coming from one of elizabeth taylor's four children. we'll have more on the incredible career throughout the day here in hollywood but big screen legend lost in hollywood. martha: she will be missed and she's one whose movies deserve another look because

she's an extraordinary actress. adam housley, thank you, out of los angeles. bell bill back to jerusalem, sorting through what is fat and what is not here. there's been a bombing, an explosion, either near a bus or on a bus in jerusalem, which by our count would be the first explosion of its kind in seven years. reports of two dead, 15 injured. those numbers could change. frankly, we do not know what the final tally will be. one report that the bomber planted an explosive near a telephone pole and then deserted the scene. that is not the m.o. for suicide or homicide bombers in the middle east. hamas had launched rockets in israel about a week ago, israel responded, and this may be the after effect of that back and forth. back in jerusalem with our viewer there in a moment here. martha: then there's this. a disturbing arrest on our border with mexico's border, 13 illegals posing as u.s. marines. what they were planning to do, next. [ male announcer ] springtime belongs to the doers.

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martha: breaking news situation in jerusalem. a blow to the israeli-palestinian peace process. information is trickling in this morning on the first terror attack on jerusalem in -- of this kind in several years, since o'4, 25 people hurt in a blast at a crowded bus stop, and pictures are coming into "america's newsroom" and we'll bring you the latest as israeli first responders say, no one has died, they are treating the wounded in the blast. more, coming up. and this "fox news alert," muammar qaddafi unloading on libyan rebels. scrambling to stop them from they c taking advantage of air support and, ramping up attacks on fighters and diplomats are struggling to come up with a plan to put everybody together and keep them that way in terms

of the coalition, that is how we start an extremely busy morning, in "america's newsroom," glad to have you with us, i'm martha maccallum. bill: qaddafi is holding strong, so far, his will is not broken, after a fiery speech late on tuesday. meanwhile, nato warships patrolling off the coast of libya, and enforcing a u.n. arms embargo and this is new videotape inside of libya, plumes of smoke rise from a strategic down in the east, after libyan forces reclaimed control. a significant blow to the rebels. and, heavy anti-aircraft fire heard alongside loud explosions, in tripoli, the capital. overnight. martha: look at those scenes, to jennifer griffin, who has been covering all of this, throughout and joins us live at the pentagon. jennifer, does the u.s. still plan to hand over command and the leadership role in all of this to the french and british as we have been told. bill: absolutely. sources say they plan to do so by tuesday of next week and things are moving quickly, i'm

told today at nato headquarters they should be able to sort out the structure of the command, a sort of nato plus arab states that decide to join, similar to afghanistan, where it has -- we have nato forces, working, but you also have other nonnato members, who have joined that coalition. it could be based at naples, italy at nato headquarters there, there is already a headquarters there, command structure and would be the legislature call place to put it and i'm told during the discussions in brussels today, they should work out the caveats, those are the -- some of the members who come to the coalition will have cavest ya e will not be dropping bombs, but will be delivering humanitarian flights. martha: tricky business, jennifer griffin, reporting from the pentagon. bill: muammar qaddafi calling on

islamic militants worldwide to join the fight in libya. >> translator: the islamic army needs to fight, in this fight. the demonstrations are all over the place, who support you. everywhere, in asia, africa, in america, in europe, the populati populations are against them, their peoples are against them and those who are against you are a small amount, small number of people that are nothing. bill: what is significant about what you are watching there is the videotape and the speech was made late yesterday, this first time we have seen him although we have heard from him, in audio recordings, in the days prior. colonel qaddafi, defiant on state tv in libya, speaking from the same compound destroyed by coalition airstrike on sunday. saying, quote, in the short-term we'll beat them, in the long term we will beat them, both

ways, qaddafi. martha: let's look at how this has shaped up since operation odyssey dawn as it is known began on saturday. the u.s. has flown 2012 sorties or missions, and the coalition has flown 124. the number of airstrikes on libyan targets, 108. and at least 162 of those tomahawk cruise missiles have been fired into the area, as well. bill: watch this story, too, martha. the debate will pick up on the hill. the mission in libya, costing american taxpayers money. clearly, the price tag easily in the hundreds of millions of dollars in week one and as of yesterday, coalition forces fired 162 tomahawk missiles, each one said to be between 1 and $1.5 million apiece. also, dispatching several b-2 stealth bombers flying round-trip from the state of missouri to libya and back, total flying time, 25 hours. $10,000 an hour to fly. all totaled, $250,000 per plane

per flight. also, we have 11 navy ships now in the mediterranean, including three submarines, two amphibious assault ships an multimillion-dollar f-15 that went down in libya, yesterday. both pilots have been rescued, they are safe. >> good news and in the meantime, defense secretary robert gates is arriving in egypt this morning. expected to give an update on military operations in libya and will also hear egypt's views on this crisis, this is the defense secretary's first trip to egypt. since hosni mubarak was forced out. handing power over to a military council there and he's expected to encourage the burgeoning democracy in egypt on this trip and, trading in egypt, suspended this morning with stocks tumbling more than 10%, so they ramped down the clamps on trading in egypt and the exchange was reopening, for the first time since january, experts expect things may get worse before they get better and the egyptian market could lose a

third of its value the first few weeks of trading and will be touch and go on the trading floor and the world will watch that as well. bill: breaking news out of michigan. we found this story hours ago. a package with explosives found inside the federal building, in downtown detroit. after it was sitting there three weeks. the same building holds the offices for the irs and the fbi and michigan's democratic senator carl levin, steve centanni is following up on the story. how could it be it sits there three weeks and what was inside it, steve. >> reporter: that is exactly what the fbi wants to know and, the joint terrorism task force now looking into this but it looks like the security team onsite thought the package belonged to somebody on a construction crew working outside of the building, now that doesn't answer the basic question, why wasn't it screened immediately, no matter who they thought it might belong to. this is the 26-story mcnamara building and house a variety of

agencies, fbi, irs, social security, peace corps and the offices of carl levin and the package was found and taken inside and nothing happened for three weeks when it was finally screened. bill? bill: reaction, federal government, authorities are saying what, if anything, right now, steve. >> reporter: not much, only a confirmation that the fbi found the package, and it was found and taken to quantico for a careful examination and more testing and the staff of the senator whose office is in the building said, senator levin and his staff learned this week of the discovery of the package in the mcnamara building and go on to say they are eager that the investigation be concluded. bill, back to you. bill: it was a stunner when we heard about it and we'll follow up on it now, steve centanni on the story in washington. martha: get this: the legal immigrants cross -- illegal immigrants crossing the border dressed as u.s. marines. that is what police found near the southern california border, william lajeunesse is live with

this incredible story. good morning. >> reporter: martha, the 13 illegal immigrants and two americans smuggling them wore official u.s. marine uniforms, driving what appeared to be a u.s. van with u.s. government plates and they were stopped on i-8, 30 miles east of san diego, and the agent noticed something odd, on the license plate, a zero had been altered to look like an 8. and he pulled this van over and all wore camouflage dress fatigues and caps but none had military i.d.s and all on velcro name tags perez and they were stolen from a marine corps base and the van registered to a california resident, entered the country a few miles away and they reported ten mexican nationals are deported and they

arrested the two u.s. citizens for alien smuggling and they would not confirm reports they confiscate additional military uniforms, the staff sergeant's shoulder stripes and more velcro name tags and i spoke with the marine corps and homeland security officials and both say this is a dangerous development that suggests that drug organizations, really stepped up their game, martha, and could gain entry to sensitive locations and, obviously, more successfully, move product and people. we don't know where these guys were headed. it is being looked at by the naval investigative service and they'll look at where they obtained the uniforms, an inside job, from the marine base or potentially on the internet. you can buy the uniforms and in this case they had desert fatigues and some woodland fatigues and it says how far these guys will go not just stealing an i.d. or social security card but posing as

marines. martha: a disturbing story. william lajeunesse, thank you very much. bill: i don't think we have seen that before. this part of the world. one way to get into the country, isn't it? martha: sure is. bill: put on the marine uniform. martha: you can get things that look that authentic, even on the internet. bill: and along the way trick a lot of people. unfortunately. critics claim the white house is sending mixed messages on the mission in libya. what is the main objective and why are so many people just confused? fair and balanced debate on that, after the break. martha: this is very unnerving. a radiation detected in japan's food supply, the water there, in areas, deemed unsafe for infants. will that tomorrcontamination m to the u.s.? surprising results of that. bill: this was a school meeting and got intense, very fast, the latest drama on a show down over the future of education in at least one state, and more. ment.

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>> president barack obama: keep in mind we don't just have military tools at our disposal in terms of accomplishing qaddafi's leaving. >> president barack obama: we'll continue to send a clear message. the violence must stop. muammar qaddafi has lost legitimacy to lead and he must leave. martha: all right, the first part of that sound bite, an exclusive one-on-one with juan-carlos lopez from cnn-espanol and the obama administration is struggling to define the u.s. mission in libya. critics say that in some ways it looks quite a bit like the bush doctrine, criticized by then candidate obama at the time and so what is the baby doctr obama stricken? alan colmes is the host of the alan colmes radio so and tucker carlson, a fox news contributor. great to have you here, welcome.

>> alan, you know, when you look at quotes from then candidate, obama, he talked about how preventing a potential genocide in iraq is not a good enough reason to keep u.s. forces there and that sounds like the reason we're in libya. >> i'm troubled by it. this is more comparable to the kosovo mission, when there was ethnic cleansing going on but, i believe the president needs to consult more with congress and i'm upset that that has not happened and i don't know what the end game is and the powell doctrine, what is the exit strategy, how much money are we spending? why are we not asking about -- talking about budgets and fighting about teachers' pay in wisconsin? we also are being told our mission, our leading will end by the end of the week and i hope that is the case and how do we know when we're done and what is exactly the end game here? we needed to know that. martha: and that is what we're waiting to find out and it is interesting, conservatives and liberals are divided on whether or not it was a good idea. >> almost as muddled as the white house message itself, which is, i was in washington,

since 1980 and have never seen a communications strategy more in disarray and clearly something is going on between the white house and the state department and hillary clinton and the president and they cannot get their story straight and if there was a lesson of the involvement of iraq, it is, you have to explain the rationale behind military action before you commit american troops and they haven't and and i think they'd like to believe it is kosovo and here's the key difference, kosovo was at the center of europe and we understood who was involved and why and we know basically nothing about the main actors -- >> you would like to believe it is iraq, but unlike iraq we have a coalition of the willing including turkey and qatar came on board and it's n-- >> what does that lead to. >> a world vision. >> what vision! >> we aren't doing it by ourselves. >> what are we doing. martha: that is guide question and i looked at a piece this morning, that pointed out the reason france and great britain and everybody can't get on the same page about what they want to do, nobody has a central interest in libya. the outcome -- >> why libya? martha: who wins if the situation is fixed.

>> and the question is, if lab libya, why not sudan and -- >> that was asked of president bush as well. >> and, he said i'd rather take troops out of iraq and into darfur where the u.s. has no vital interest of any kind and he's articulated a vision on acting on purely humanitarian grounds and he's not doing that now. >> and i'm sorry. go ahead. >> so much less likely to be able to hand it over to someone else, which is supposedly the plan. >> and we're told qaddafi must go and that is not part of the mission and that is confusing and people have to understand exactly what the boundaries are. martha: what i'm seeing is they want to encourage him to leave and make people make him leave. >> but, that is going to be clear -- martha: interesting comments on this by a man who worked hard to build a coalition during the iraq war, donald rumsfeld. let's listen to that: >> i've always believed that the mission determines the coalition. and the coalition ought not to

determine the mission. go back to the gulf war, the reason we didn't go for regime change, president george herbert walker bush said after defeating the iraqi army the coalition hadn't agreed on that and i don't know what the coalition here agreed on. i don't think they have agreed on a mission. and the mission should have been decided before the coalition. i suspect one of the reasons the administration didn't go to congress is they didn't know what to ask for. martha: tucker. >> the administration, giving props to qaddafi, they thought he was falling in line after iraq and now, we know we can't trust him and should have known that then and, giving him props. >> find one person whoever trusted him. >> the bush administration said, he's our guy now, because he's falling in line. >> that is -- look, i hate to believe this but i'm coming to, they are making it up as they go along, ad hoc and actually don't have a plan and the president said earlier this week on monday we may hand it over to the arab league or the europeans. martha: and it seems less and -- and the arab league seems less

and less interested by the moment and they reported from the pentagon the line on the pentagon, i should say is that the french and british will take this over and i talked to a person yesterday, who said the u.s. is not involved in anything we are not leading on. >> that is a story and i wanted to be sure, they reiterated, the president and the joint chiefs said it we'll cede the lead and that has to happen to keep them honest. martha: thank you so much, gentlemen, thanks, guys. bill: we're chock-full of news on the economy. home sales in tweb were at their lowest level since records were recorded more than 50 years ago. the ap wire saying sales of u.s. homes plunged to a record low, continuing a dismal sign for and all ready weak hog market. while that happens, we're watching the news from the middle east. in jerusalem there is a bombing, in a bus or near a bus, and

we're sorting through fatalities and injuries on board. it would be the first bombing in jerusalem of this kind going back to 2004. reena ninan and her crew or on scene and we'll talk to her after the break. the middle east is going off again. back in a moment after this.

martha: breaking news out of jerusalem, the first bus bomb attack of this kind since 2004. and now police are coming out and calling this a terrorist attack, they believe it was carried out by a palestinian militant, a bomb attack in a crowded bus stop in central jerusalem and there's a look at the kescene, 25 people wounded d taken to local hospitals, there's the video we're getting on the situation. tough story, we'll continue to stay on top of it and bring you

the latest as we get more. bill: as we wait, on reena ninan i want to get back to the u.s., where find a new report, public employees are scrambling to retire. the number of state employees at retirement age, 20% of the entire workforce, putting a whole new strain on local governments at a time when you think, if you retire, perhaps you get off the paycheck and you actually save the state money. and aeric bolling, anchor of "follow the money". follow the money here. >> what is going on in wisconsin. you don't think that has a ripple effect, think again, wisconsin and new jersey, talk about that in one second. what is happening is public employees rushing to retire quickly before things change, before they are not allowed to take 90% of their salaries or not allowed to spike the last year of their contract by saving up time off, using that as part of the salary, getting their

base higher so when they retire they are retiring pretty darned close to near full salary and in other words, scott walker in wisconsin, chris christie in new jersey, are saying, look, guys, the pension system, retirement system is broken and we need to fix it. there's a big rush to retire quickly in wisconsin, 73%, jump in wisconsin, bill, this year, i'm sorry, this period versus last period, this year versus last and jersey, the numbers are staggering, 67%. bill: you might think it saves the state money to get the budget in line and on the other hand, it is' mixed blessing, why. >> yes. you want the high priced employees off the rolls, now, you want them put into retirement and that is great and you replace them with lower priced employees. but, unless you fix the system, it will not matter. you kick the can down the road. if people are coming in at 25 or 27 years old, you'll put them in 20 years and spike the pension

and do it again. they really need pension reform across the board and certainly with all the federal employees and state and local employees, so... bill: you might save money but also probably lose a little bit when it comes to the expertise. >> really? what? yeah, can't get a postal worker to deliver the mail... on time. bill: go lick your stamp. thanks, eric, follow the money, 10:00, monday, tuesday, wednesday, friday, on the fox business network. thanks. martha: tornado sirens wail as mother nature turns destructive. >> we ran to the basement and as soon as we got to the laundry room the window broke and we ran to the other side and they go, get in the closet, a storm closet and, there was a -- he shoved us in the closet and shut the door and started praying and we made it. [ male announcer ] millions of men 45 and older

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bill: got breaking news now out of libya. remember that f15, the fighter jet that went down, crashed in the libyan desert east of benghazi? the two pilots have been rescued, they're okay, now we get word on behalf of the u.s. military that the u.s. fighter planes went back and bombed that crash site overnight last night. they did it to make sure that none of the sensitive parts on board fell into enemy hands, and they also did it during the darkness to diminish the chance of collateral damage or civilian casualties. the plane went down in an

empty field and what is so interesting about the second pilot, he was missing for 12 hours. turns out that people from benghazi went out, found him, brought him to a hotel, led him use the telephone, and they called a u.s. helicopter to bring him to safety. so they're both okay. martha: the nation thanks them, they took really good care of him and we're grateful for that and both of them are -- that was good news on the remains of that plane. how about this for you, the u.s. blocking some food imports from japan's radiation zone, including bread and milk, up until then the fda had been screening food that came from the region near the nuclear plant and david miller has the latest on this disturbing story from the newsroom. >> reporter: let me say at the outset this is a precaution here, what the fda is doing, but nevertheless as you mentioned the fda says all milk products and vegetables grown near the fukushima nuclear plant are going to

be temporarily blocked from entering the united states because of concern over contamination. the word was that radiation levels seeped into the food chain, milk and drinking water in tokeo being affected, products from japan make up less than 4 percent of all foods imported into the united states. japanese dairy products account for even less at 1/10 of 1 percent. the most popular items are seafood, snacks and sproas dollars fruits and vegetables but even out the fda ban the risk of contaminated food entering the u.s. appeared minimal, the earthquake and tsunami halted production prior to the explosion of the reactor. furthermore japanese officials already had stopped the sale of a number of agricultural products. due to infrastructure damage, japan's export activity is now described as severely limited. nevertheless, the fda says it is going to closely monitor the situation in japan and is screening food shipment phos radiation such as seafood. the agency says it is

monitoring radiation levels in the united states and says the thee theoretical miles do not indicate that significant levels will reach the coastline or affect fishing waters. martha: very interesting and one to watch closely. david lee miller, thank you very much. bill: more fallout literally on this story, the reports of tainted water taking a toll on the market necessary japan, the nikkei index fell nearly 2 percent today, that's almost immediately after the government announced that radioactive iodine had been detected in the tap water in tokeo. tokeo is 200 miles southwest of the tsunami site. that exceeds the limits considered safe for infants, but many adults not taking chances. the leading index was down 1.6% at the close of trading. that's off about 160 points, nikkei. martha: well, the earth quake and tsunami in japan already by far the costliest disaster that the world has ever seen. the japanese government now estimating that the total cost of this tragedy could top $309 billion, putting it

way ahead of hurricane kan katrina right lower on the gulf coast of the united states. estimates put that at $135 billion. and it is far more devastating than the quake that struck kolbe, japan in 19985, damage from that cat asie cost upwards of $100 billion. lots of digging out for people. bill: indeed there is and our prayers and thoughts are with them every day. don't call it a war, peace keeping, president obama calling the mission in libya a humanitarian mission. but whatever you call it, america's role in the attack could put the white house in a thicket of constitutional and legal challenges and some of those, starting to build already. fox news senior judicial analyst, judge andrew napoll talo, thousand -- napolitano , how you doing, judge, the at says what? >> the president of the united states, says -- after consulting congress and

threatening to impel an imminent threat to the united states where there isn't time to have a declaration of war can send the military into action anywhere he wants for 60 days and another 30 days if he wants. bill: so that's two or three-month and we're well within that time frame already. >> correct, and the president has not -- las argued this is not a war. sometimes he claims that by dropping hundreds of millions of dollars bombs on a country in an effort to degrade that country's military is not a war. people watching for themselves can decide if it is a war. but there's a reason he's not calling it a war. he did not consult congress. instead he consulted the arab league, the headquarters in belgium and the united nations. bill: you can imagine just how big that debate -- debate if -- would be if you went to congress first but he still has time based on what you're telling me, 60 days minimum. >> in that 60 days the congress can force his hand

by enacting a law preventing him from spending money on this project, if the congress wants to do that. now, some democrats and many republicans are arguing he treated the congress like a potted plant, because he did this at a time that he knew that congress would be on vacation. so they're not even in washington to address this issue. bill: and the money issue will come up, and it will continue, and it's not so much a legal question as it is probably a political question. >> it is. bill: you don't really want to call on the question how much money you're spending on the war when you want to win the darn thing. >> what the congress will do is debate a resolution to tell him he can't spend any money so there will be no dollars in there, the libyans won't know how much is being spent but can estimate it but something that won't happen, a fet judge is -- federal judge is not going to tell the president he can't drop these bombs. bill: why not? >> the federal courts have consistently refused to get involved in lawsuits challenging the president's use of the military. they basically say it's a political question. it's for the congress and the president to resolve,

not for the courts. bill got you. but the white house has already said, we've briefed members of congress, we've written a formal letter. is that sufficient to date? legally? >> legally, it's probably sufficient. politically, no way. because by not calling it a war and claiming he doesn't have to follow this law but following it, anyway, by finding the time to go to foreign bodies rather than the congress, he's created a political thicket for himself. bill: one more thing, he says the u.s. can hand off power or control of this mission to nato or other forces within a matter of days, jennifer griffin saying within the next week. >> that's another issue. bill: if that happens can you bypass the stuff about the war power's act and -- war powers act and everything that goes with it. >> no, because agreements with foreign countries cannot supercede the constitution or the federal lu and -- federal law and america will decide whether putting this under other leads counter conveniences the law. bill: that's why we keep you

around! watch freedom watch, every night, on the fox business network. there he is. thank you judge. martha: we like to hear that that's the other reason. a new showdown in one state, looking for fresh options on its budget problems. the full house in newark, new jersey, watch this, as supporters of public and charter schools squared off. at issue? whether charter schools should take over space in underused public schools. republican governor chris christie's administration has raised that possibility. not sitting so well with the union leadership representing newark's teachers, though. >> it would be a tale of two cities, the haves and have nots. >> they've not accepting lower achievement children. >> we are a private --y not a private school, we are a public school and we deserve the same space as the north. martha: the tug-of-war is more intense and facebook

founder mark zuckerberg donated $100 million to the troubled school district and they all want a piece of that, right? >> bill: could go a long way. back to the breaking news right now, we're learning more about this explosion in jerusalem, israeli police now saying this was a terrorist attack. the latest details, live from the scene, and brand new video in central jerusalem, in a moment. martha: and we are just getting a shocking new report on the disaster in japan. did regulators ignore warnings that could have prevented the crisis? what we now know, next.

jon good morning i'm jon scott. nato warships now patrolling off the libyan coast as u.s. air strikes target qaddafi force necessary misurata, reports that snipers loyal to qaddafi are killing from

roop tops from that town. former joint chiefs of staff richard myers is our guest. we'll look at the crackdown underway in syria and iran's growing role in the region. what america is doing to try to counter ahmadinejad. in japan, black smoke now pouring from reactor number three as radiation spreads in tokeo. plus in the hot seat today, bethany frankel. we'll see you in a few minutes, "happening now". bill: jon, thank you. we've been telling you about this explosion in jerusalem. our reporter reena ninan, about a block away from that scene, she is on screen now. there's a delay in the signal, but this is new videotape in "america's newsroom" and clearly a scene of fright in central jerusalem this morning. re. na, what do you see there? >> reporter: bill, we're live on the scene now, just where this explosion took place a short time ago. i want to take you live to exactly where this took

place. this happened right inside of a bus. you can see the bomb disposal squad here, looking at the aftermath. the bomb was placed, we believe, inside of a bag near this public telephone pole next to this make-shift convenient stand. it happened at 3:00 during rush hour, the height of where the traffic and the people waiting for the buses are the largest of the day. this happening just a block away from our jerusalem bureau. twenty-five people were injured. one, in very critical condition. right now, this has set off the israeli government on high alert here. they've closed the entrances and exits of jerusalem, they are now being monitored, every car coming in, every car going out will now have to be inspected. they are looking for a suspect right now, but so far, bill, they don't have anyone in their hands. bill: it can be quite a scene there to watch it and witness it. reena, new -- reena ninan, thank you, live on scene. when we get details, you'll hear it here in "america's

newsroom". martha: let's go to this now. did japan ignore warnings of vulnerability at their nuclear facility? that is the latest report from the "wall street journal" this morning, the paper reporting that japanese regulators had the chance to use newel cooing technologies that may have either less ended or prevented this disaster, but they decided upon inspection to hold off on installing those at the older plants like the one at fukushima. let's bring in william tucker, author of terrestrial energy, how nuclear energy will lead the green revolution and end america's energy odyssey. we're glad to have you back mr. tucker. the "wall street journal" front page story basically said they come n. looked at the recan'tors, there was technology that would have allowed the cooling systems to continue to give to -- to give them a backup system to allow the cooling systems to continue. sounds like it would have made a difference. >> i think the story is

misleading. martha: why? >> there are two days too it. you can have a passive system that doesn't require electricity or the operated pump. it's like a window in your car, you can have electricity or crank it. the oldest systems had a crank system, a passive system, then in the '70s they made it electric because the old system didn't seem to work so well. but if you have electric, you need tryst. in the last two decades, they realized if the electricity goes out, what happens at fukushima, we won't have pumping, so the newest reactors have decided to go back to this passive system and incorporated it in reactors that are going to be built next. now, what was happening here is that somebody came in and made a presentation of the new reactors, and they talked about should we do it -- >> martha: is it going to cost this much, maybe we'll not do that but do it in the future. it raises the question, what do we have here in the united states? >> we have mostly what they had in japan. martha: electric. >> electric operated systems, yeah.

martha: why isn't it a dual system? i know absolutely nothing about how this operates but there's another way to raise the window in your car, right? >> yeah, probably if we build new reactors they there are dual systems, they will be much safer. this is evolveing technology, like cars and airplanes, you get better as you go along. most of the reactors are 30 years and they depend on the electric. martha: when you're in this zone, tsunamis have happened in japan and you have this thing on the water line, why wouldn't they have said at that point, gee, if something really rocks this reactor area, we may lose power here. >> well, to put it -- you couldn't retrofit an old reactor. you'd have to build it from the ground up. >> it was too late, in your opinion. >> too late. martha: it sounds like we have systems to review here. >> even if they decided to do it would have taken a couple of years. it wouldn't have made a difference. martha: william trucker -- tucker, appreciate your

expertise. thank you for weighing in. bill: we have been hearing from mommar qaddafi, vowing he will be victorious and we're live on the ground, where the rebels say they will not be defeated. >> it is the season, tornado sirens are a rite of pass ang and -- a rite of passage and they can be -- they can be deadly. >> i grabbed my dog and went to the basement. we have a doorway, a stoop that is in front, and we waited there, quieted the dog down, before i came back out.

martha: take a look, we've got some frightening video out of iowa as mother nature was power, wailing tornado sirens sent residents scrambling for cover after this, look at this video, a massive funnel cloud spotted there, hurling across western and central iowa. >> what did you think when

you saw what happened? >> it was worse than i thought. we lost our barn, but our horse is okay, and we're all okay, so -- >> martha: wow, that's the good news. there are reports of widespread damage to buildings and farms, no word of any injuries, thankfully. bill: coming to that time of year, first of april, look out. so, the sticker shock you're seeing does not end at the gas pump. the high fuel prices now helping to drive up the cost of food in a significant way. molly line is live in boston on this. molly, good morning to you. they're taking a hit, aren't they? >> good morning, bill. families as they head to the gas pump know they'll take a hit, then when they go to the grocery store they see the prices as well. prices rose nine-point # percent, the biggest spike since 1974 and over the last 12 month, a 5.6% raise overall. thanks to the soaring shipping costs, food

manufacturers are raising prices and for more than 50 years, superior bakery in cranston, rhode island has provided their area supermarkets but they've been forced to tighten their belt. here's the owner? >> i have to say prices have increased roughly about 1.25 a gallon from last year, nine, ten months ago, and we have 12 truck that is leave this plant every day, so at the end of the week, it's probably 12-$1500 more just in gasoline prices. >> reporter: the costs including for sugar and flow, they've been forced to raise cents 6 percent. they don't want to do it but they need to pass it on and share all of this. bill: a lot of it is passed down the chain to the consumer and it doesn't go back. >> there is a trickle down effect of the they deliver down the road to a local grocery store that competes with the big grocery stores, jerry's market and we spoke to them and talked about what they're struggling with. >> right now, it's produce.

produce prices are going sky high. many times the consumer thinks it's the store, at the store level, that we're price gouging, but in reality, once again, we're working on a smaller percentage to try to keep the product moving, keeping it fresh. we don't like to see the high prices. >> reporter: with the continuing turmoil in the middle east, it's expected that the prices will continue to rise. certainly we're not seeing a leveling off, which means the suppliers, manufacturers, supermarkets, and as you mentioned ultimately the consumer will all be bearing some of this cost. bill bi-and the price doesn't go back down, molly. molly line, live from boston. martha. martha: breaking news out of jerusalem where there has not been a terror attack like this in years. a bomb, exploding on or near a bus is the latest thinking, injuring 25 people there. what does this mean for the peace process? we will be back with more, live in jerusalem, for the latest. destined to shape our .

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bill: i see him being brought out of the sketcher! the peoples' court was never this bad!

look at this one! >> leave me alone! leave me alone! bill: springfield, massachusetts, court officers tackling a man after he rushed toward the judge's bench, he apparently lost it when the judge revoked his bail because he violated probation, he's 26, in court arraigned on drug charges. martha: calling the bailive on that one! how about this, britain's royal wedding is head to go i tunes, the ceremony is going to be released digitally within hours of prince willan and kate middleton tieing the knot. bill will be the first downloading that. it's the 23eurs time -- its the first time a royal occasion will be almost instantly released on download. they exchange vowings april 29th. i know that's a big circle on your calendar. bill: you're going to be there, and i can get it for 99 cents. martha: you can apparently download it right after! bill: see you tomorrow,